Tom Sloan Saddle Trail??

I was up on Mt. Lowe road this morning heading toward Mt. Wilson from JPL. I ran out of time due to a late start and only got to the juntion of Mt. Lowe road and the Tom Sloan Saddle trail. I wondered where this trail went but did not take it, mostly due to time (and also a "no bikes" sign). This evening, I came accross a map showing that it connects up with the top of the Brown Mountain Fire Road, right where the road ends and the Ken Burton trail starts. Anybody tried to ride the Tom Sloan Saddle trail?

No I have not tried it, because of the no bikes sign. Anyway, my map (Tom Harrison) does not show Tom Sloan connecting to Brown Mountain Fireroad. My map shows Tom Sloan as a 820 ft drop over 1.2 miles to Tom Slone Saddle. Then you have four choices: back the way you came, second a 1450 ft drop over 4 miles down Bear Canyon Trail to the Gabrielino a couple miles below Switzers, third down Dawn Mine Canyon back down to Millard Campground, lastly another trail not sure of the name (Grand Canyon) that parallels Tom Sloan back up to Mt Lowe Fireroad. It would surprise me if any of those choices would be very good for biking., great for exploring....lets go.

Anyone ever ridden the Dawn Mine Trail. That's the one that goes from the little gazebo off the Mt. Lowe RR?

dstepper, did you ride Waterman? Nice?

Dawn Mine -- yes, goes from the structure off Mt. Lowe Road. Never ridden it, but it looks steep. Quick calculations from my map reveals 18% downhill grade for .6 miles. Once you're at the bottom, riding out to Millard Campground is probably less steep.

Dawn Mine -- yes, goes from the structure off Mt. Lowe Road. Never ridden it, but it looks steep. Quick calculations from my map reveals 18% downhill grade for .6 miles. Once you're at the bottom, riding out to Millard Campground is probably less steep.

The trail from dawn mine to millard is probably not very ridable.
I've hiked most of the way up that trail, but not all the way to dawn mine.
Plus, you've got to get your bike down the waterfall about a mile upstream from the campground. Its doable on foot, but w/ a bike?

You can avoid the waterfall if you know where to look. If you're decending the millard canyon trail, there is a connector to sunset trail from millard before you reach the falls. This is near those stairsteps on sunset trail around the cabins.
Beautiful trail, but probably not much riding, most HAB.